
Online gaming and vaping to the point of addiction have become widespread enough that most high school counselors regularly confront these behaviors in today’s teens, a new survey shows. Four out of five counselors say they’ve worked with at least one student during the past year who had struggled with problematic use of video games or e-cigarettes. However, few said they had the training necessary to adequately help their young charges, researchers found. “School counselors are aware this is an issue, but it doesn’t seem like we’re providing the training as a profession so that they can address it,” said principal investigator Amanda Giordano, an associate professor in the University of Georgia’s Mary Frances Early College of Education. “They’re seeking their own continuing education and self-study to learn how to meet these needs.” About 41% of teens say they’ve vaped nicotine at some point in their lives, while 26% say they have vaped marijuana, researchers said in background notes. “These are really distressing numbers because as a society, we’ve worked hard to curb adolescent smoking of combustible tobacco products,” said Giordano. “Now with vaping, we see those numbers going back up.” Gaming addiction is also a growing problem, marked by compulsive behavior, a loss of control and cravings, researchers said. It was officially recognized as a disorder by the World Health Organization in 2019. For the… read on > read on >